routing raised panals

[Dan-Woodman]

CW
I was wondering if you had read my question under the last "troubleshooting" post? about routing raised panals with the 1/2" classical bit?
to anyone -- Has anyone tried using the 1/2" classical bit to rout what looks like a raised panal in a flat MDF door.
It does a fantastic job , but my problem was the motor was only running about 1/2 speed. and I think the feed rate was way down too.
Has anyone else had this problem.

[cmorlier]

Hi Dan,

We do slow the feed rate somewhat on the larger bits, so that might be part of what you are seeing.

As for the cutter motor slowing down, some slowing is obviously normal and the changes will be a bit larger for larger bits. But a significant change shouldn't be happening. If you feel it it is significant, there are two possible causes for this:
1) A hardware issue, but to date I don't believe we have had any other machines that have exhibited what you are describing. So I don't think a hardware problem is very likely.
2) The other possibility is that it is a material issue. It could be that we are a little aggressive in MDF. We have done some testing with MDF, but I don't know that we have done any extensive testing with the larger routing bits.

With these causes in mind, here are a few questions:
-Have you tried cutting other material with the 1/2" Classical bit? Do you see the same response from the cut motor?
-Does the cut motor run at full speed when it is above the board?
-Does the cut motor speed change for the deeper passes?

Since you say the quality is good, I am not too concerned, because I would expect a significant issue would reduce the quality. However, I haven't heard what you are hearing.

As always, if you are still concerned or if the problem gets worse, don't hesitate to give us a call.

[Dan-Woodman]

most of the time the motor starts out at full speed and then before it touches the wood ,slows down. One time it did not slow down, and the quality was just fine also. most of the time it stops before touching anything and says check cut motor,push enter to proceed. then when you push enter , it cuts ok but it makes like seven passes.very slow I am cutting 9/32" deep. the very first pass is the deepest, but after that it seems like it only cuts about 1/32" per pass.

[cmorlier]

The "Check Cut Motor" message indicates that you have a problem with the cut motor speed sensor. It prompts you to let you know that it can't detect that the motor it spinning properly and just wants to ensure that it is spinning before touching the wood.

The sensor is pretty easy to fix and we can send you the parts if necessary. So give us a call and we will get you fixed up.

As for the number of passes, what you are seeing sounds normal.

[Dan-Woodman]

Thanks for the help
Is the feed rate linked to the motor rpm, cause it seems that the feed rate is slower when the rpm is down. The one time the rpm did not slow,it seemed like it also moved faster. I 'm not sure with a flex drive system,how much material can be removed at one time. I'm used to my
1 1/2 H P router that I would 'nt hesitate to cut this 9/32" deep in one pass, however I wouldn't expect that with a flex drive. MDF is really not that hard but I understand that you can't have a diferent setup for each piece of wood

[cmorlier]

There is currently no direct link between the cutmotor and the motion system. However, the control logic will throttle back if it detects that it is having trouble keeping up. This could certainly kick in if the cutmotor is bogging down.

Long term, we may offer a material type selection where you could tell it whether you are cutting a hard or soft wood or plastic, and therefore optimize the operation a bit. But there are a variety of issues we need to understand. from "how to make the options easy to understand?", to "how does it effect the warranty if a user consistently chooses the wrong material and overloads the machine?"